Runaway October » ’09 Resolutions

Yay! Welcome back to me!

Katie — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:37:50 +0000

Okay, so after a 7 month hiatus, I am back. If you ever want to get comments on your blog, just stop blogging for a really long time. I hope to be back blogging regularly now. I overhauled the whole blog, got rid of unnecessary “features” and setup a new gallery tool. Be sure to check out the pictures, by clicking on the links either above or to the right. I update with pictures of the boys regularly.

New Year by *Sally M*

On another note, 2009 has come to a close. It was a year of ups and downs for us, like I’m sure it was for most other families. We were taken to court by one of my daycare clients, and nice guys always finish last. My husband bought me a wonderful new home! He also plowed through massive layoffs at his work and even ended up with a promotion. We were surprised with an unexpected pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage. We made new friends, lost family members, and all in all I think we weathered the storm nicely. We can only hope 2010 is as good… Well, maybe with a little less of the downs, of course.

As is typical for me, I hope that I can use my blog to stick to my New Years resolutions, which are pretty typical for me, just look at the one’s from years past. But this time I have a whole house to decorate and make homey. On a budget. I also convinced Matt to buy this little pretty for my Christmas present…in pink of course.

Cavallini 2010 Daily Planner

My hope is that I’ll have plenty of space to schedule things ahead of time, so that I don’t end up scrambling the day before a birthday or 4 weeks before Christmas again. My plan is to make Christmas presents throughout the year, and maybe setup a couple crafting get-togethers. So if any of you are interested in meeting to have some good food, a few drinks and make batches of Christmas presents with friends, let me know.

I have lots of new recipes to try, crafts to make, sewing to do and I hope to do a bit of canning. And by a bit, I mean I think I’ve been bitten by a canning bug. I found a new source for cheap, fresh produce and homemade jam and jellies has never sounded better. I still need to set up and decorate my “craft room”. I’m kinda ignoring the fact that half of it is supposed to be for Matt’s computer stuff. We debate over the name of it constantly. Matt originally named it the S.O.R. — Server Operations Room. I’ve decided it’s the Sewing Machine Operations Room — S.M.O.R. That’s a much nicer name, don’t you think?

So those are a few of the things I’ll be working on this year. Wont you join me?

And remember, a blogger lives for comments. Please don’t be shy. If you drop by, lemme know you were here! To do so, just click on the link below that says “Leave a comment/# of comments” and type in whatever your heart desires.

Thanks for reading!

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Going without… shampoo that is.

Katie — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:49:40 +0000

While I was working I could easily spend all day cruising the internet, with limited accessibility because of firewalls and IP blockers. I spent most of my time perusing parenting forums. My favorite was Mothering.com, which is where I came across the crazy notion that shampoo was making my curly hair unruly. They called it No ‘Poo, I called it nuts. While doing some research I came to realize that typical shampoo was chock full of chemicals, most that I couldn’t pronounce and didn’t want to rub on my head.

There are a couple of premises behind No ‘Poo. A few are:

Shampoo is a detergent and literally strips your hair of moisture, oil and shine, making it prone to damage and breakage.
Curly hair is especially prone to shampoo damage because it is more porous and fragile.
Because hair is frequently stripped of its natural oils, your scalp goes into hyperdrive. This is why some people describe their hair as an oil slick.

Start with three main ingredients — Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar and a good conditioner. When purchasing a conditioner, read the ingredients.

Try to find something that does not have any ‘cones’ — Dimethicone, Silicone, etc. These will coat your hair and you’ll end up with a greasy mess.
Avoid mineral oil, a nasty byproduct of gasoline distilling. Your body id unable to absorb it, so it will also create a greasy mess. It also blocks the scalp from releasing built up toxins and oil. Acne anyone?
Also avoid Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLFS). Known skin irritants, SLS and SLFS are commonly added to shampoo and other detergents as a foaming aget. They are currently being questioned regarding cancer and toxic build up in tissues.
If you use a gel, use a clear one. You may find that oils work well for you now, such as coconut oil, jojoba oil, apricot oil, extra virgin olive oil. Some people like to use alcohol-free Aloe Vera gel.

When Declan was born, I was a shower and shampoo every day kind of girl. I used lots of extras to keep my hair in check. I tried No ‘Poo for about a week before I couldn’t handle it. My roots were detoxing and super greasy and my ends were dry, split and straw like. I had to go in public like that for 40+ hours a weeks. Eek.

Now that I stay home with the boys, I don’t get out as often and shampooing has come down to 2 or 3 times a weeks, to save time in the shower. I’m hoping that my hair wont have to detox nearly as much this time, and if it does, oh well. I can always wear a hat to the grocery store.

I’ll be photo documenting my journey and posting more info as I go. Next Up — No ‘Poo routines.

Here are some No ‘Poo sources:

What is No ‘Poo?

Info: Shampoo Free

The No ‘Poo Method

The No Shampoo Alternative — No Poo

Of Course I Washed My Hair Last Year (I’m Almost Certain)

How to Ditch Shampoo

All about the No ‘Poo Routine

Break the Shampoo Habit

Treating Your Hair Like a Bathroom Sink

Conditioner-Only Hair Washing

Wise Woman Forum — The No Shampoo Thread

Mothering Dot Commune — Going No Shampoo

Have you ever considered changing up your beauty routine in such a dramatic way? If so, how or why not?

Have any of you tried No ‘Poo?

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Life Fail!

Katie — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:14:08 +0000

Sometimes it’s so nice to just wipe a slate clean and start over again.

Last years resolutions were hit or miss.

1…) Stop cussing, completely. Negative
2…) Smile more. Kinda sorta, I guess.
3…) Spend more individual time with Declan and treat him like an adult. Yes and no.
4…) Create and add some items to my Etsy shop. Nope.
5…) Do more craft projects — for myself and with the kids. Yes!

So, once again I’m going to set some resolutions and think about them randomly throughtout the year and feel bad when I don’t hit them 100%. Yep. Sounds about right.

1.) Stop cussing, completely — How did I end up wih such a potty mouth? While I admit that Declan telling me my ass is too big makes me giggle, it’s also quite embarassing in public.

2.) Detoxify the house — This one is difficult because my mom buys her own cleaning products and calls me, jokingly, a treehugger for my choices. It’s just so easy to have things build up under the sinks. Thankfully I clean so infrequently that it’s not a real issue to toss everything. I’m also going to start “No ‘Poo“ing my hair again. I tried before while working but couldn’t handle going out in public during the really wonky phase. Here’s a great LiveJournal community for it. We have an on again, off again relationship with the healthier beauty products, mainly because of finances. I think it might be time to just suck it up and buy what I know is best for the family — not best for my bank account.

3.) ETSY — Seriously, why can’t I get this going? I’ve decided not to do anymore swaps, so maybe that will make it easier? Wih the purcahse of a new sewing machine (50% off clearance sale) I’m definitly going to complete more projects, but I’d like to make a little extra cash too.

4.) Try to cut back on HFCS and MSG — With that combination it leaves next to zilch to buy. Thankfully Matt is on board with me and we’ve both done some research into the issue. Frankly it scares us.

Alright, I think that’s enough babbling. And the boys are waiting on me to watch a movie.

Thanks for reading!

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